Why I Turned Down a Great Job

I just received a call from a great photographer asking me if I wanted to do a shoot. He was offering me $600. The other part that was great, was that it would have been in a hospital setting with me as a doctor. Since I get booked as a doctor, I can never have too many great doctor shots. So, why in the world would I turn this down?

This was not an ad. Instead, it was a stock shot. This is where photographers create an incredible photo that looks like an ad, and then they try and rent it to ad agencies. It is always cheaper for an ad agency to rent an existing stock shot, then to hire a photographer, makeup artist, model, stylist and create a new ad.

There are many professional models who do stock photography. The good part, is that even though you will get paid a lot less for stock work (in NY you can expect up to $250/hour for an ad as opposed to $75/hour for stock work), the model gets an incredible photo that can be used on a comp card, or an agents web site.

The only problem with doing stock work is that you have to sign a release giving the photographer permission to use your image for any type of ad. You have no idea if your image will be a part of an ad campaign you are not comfortable being associated with. You also might not know where and how your image is being used. That is why I do not do any stock work anymore.

If I accepted this stock job, and my image is used for let’s say a pharmaceutical ad for high blood pressure, I would not be told or know how, where or for whom the shot was used. Not knowing where and how my image is being used could cause some incredible problems for me in the future. Quite often with pharmaceutical jobs, models are asked if they have any conflicts running (ads for competing companies or products). If I did a stock shot, I would have no idea if there are any ads running that would be considered a conflict. In the worst case scenario, and I did the new pharmaceutical job, and later, they find my stock shot running for a competing product, there could be some nasty legal ramifications.

So, as much as I wanted to work with this photographer, get some great shots, I did not think it would be a smart business decision. Be careful before accepting a stock photo booking.

About the Author: Aaron Marcus

Aaron Marcus has been a full-time actor and commercial model for over 33 years. His new book, How to Become a Successful Actor and Model is an Amazon Best Seller. Aaron has given his seminar: "Book the Job" over 700 times spanning 3 continents. He also offers online workshops. Aaron saves 5 days each month to give private on-line coaching sessions.